Speakers

Some of our past speakers include...

Bishop Efraim (Ef)Tendero serves as the Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance. Widely known as Bishop Ef, has served as National Director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) for more than 20 years. PCEC is WEA’s national Alliance member that represents some 30,000 evangelical churches in the Philippines. He is also President of the Philippine Relief and Development Services (PHILRADS), the relief and development arm of PCEC that works hand in hand with local churches in holistic ministries to serve the poor and needy. Bishop Tendero also serves as International Facilitator for South East Asia of the Asia Evangelical Alliance, was appointed Lausanne Senior Associate for Integrity and Anti-Corruption and is the chair of the board Back to the Bible Broadcast, Evangelism Explosion (EE) 3 Philippines, Global Filipino Movement, and the Philippine Missions Association. He is also the Executive Editor of Evangelicals Today, the longest running Christian magazine in the Philippines. Bishop Tendero has a BA in Theology from Febias College of Bible and a Master of Divinity with focus on pastoral counselling from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He received two honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from Asian Theological Seminary and Febias College of Bible, and a Doctor of Leadership degree from International Graduate School of Leadership. Bishop Tendero and his wife Sierry have four children and two grandchildren.

Dr. Philip Graham Ryken is the eighth president of Wheaton College, where he studied philosophy and English literature. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and a doctorate in historical theology from the University of Oxford. Dr. Ryken returned from England to join the pastoral staff at Philadelphia’s Tenth Presbyterian Church, where he preached for 15 years before becoming Wheaton’s President in 2010. He has published more than 40 books, including Loving the Way Jesus Loves and Why Everything Matters. He has proclaimed the gospel in twenty countries around the world, and globalizing Christian education is one of his main priorities for Wheaton College.

Paul DeHaven serves as the Campus Pastor of Christ Community Church in DeKalb. He attended the HDI conference while serving on the volunteer team of the DeKalb County Long Term Recovery committee. Paul helped his congregation serve in the days following the Fairdale Tornado in 2015. While serving as a Student Ministry Pastor in Texas, Paul oversaw teams of students who assisted with local service projects and disaster relief after Hurricanes Katrina and Ike.

Sheryl Haw serves as the International Director for Micah Global. Sheryl joined Micah Network in April 2010. In this role Sheryl is responsible for providing global leadership to the Micah Network. Sheryl was born and grew up in Zimbabwe where her family all reside. She has spent the last 20 years working within the aid sector. This comprised of 13 years with Medair (a Christian Crisis Relief Organisation), where she served in various countries around the world, and completing her time with Medair as their Operations Director based in Switzerland. Sheryl then established herself as a consultant and trainer serving many organisations globally. For 5 years she worked with HAP International (Humanitarian Accountability Partnership) as their Standards and Certification Develop Manager and accountability auditor. Prior to joining Micah Network Sheryl lectured at All Nations Christian College on Integral Mission and Development Practice.

Hugh Heinrichsen is the Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Redeemer's Fellowship, in Roseburg, Oregon. He studied at Moody Bible Institute and graduated from Corban University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology: Family Studies, and a Master of Arts in Human Service Counseling: Marriage and Family from Liberty University. Hugh married his wife, Peggy, in 2000. They have two children, Eden and Hudson. In October of 2015 a gunman walked on to the campus of Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, and murdered nine, physically injured nine, and ended his own life. Hugh’s work has been with victims, first responders, students, and families of those affected. He has also worked with a network of local churches to provide comprehensive spiritual care and to develop a long-term healing plan for trauma and grief in Douglas County. Connect with Hugh @pastorhugh.

Dr. Jamie Aten is a disaster psychologist, author, and speaker. He is the Founder and Co-Director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute and Dr. Arthur P. Rech and Mrs. Jean May Rech Associate Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College. Dr. Aten first became involved in disaster ministry after moving to South Mississippi just six days before Hurricane Katrina struck. He started studying disaster spiritual and emotional care and supporting church recovery efforts just weeks after the storm. Since that time he has gone onto research, train, or mobilize church leaders after numerous disasters around the globe, including: Hurricanes Rita and Gustav, H1N1 pandemic and Ebola crisis, 2010 Mississippi Delta and 2011 Alabama Tuscaloosa Tornadoes, Civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia, Kenyan refugee crisis, Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Upper Big Branch Mining Explosion, Japan Tsunami and Earthquake, Philippines typhoon, Haiti Earthquake, and 2015 South Carolina Flood. His current research on the intersection of faith and resilience amid disasters and humanitarian crises is being supported by a $1.9 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. His publications have appeared in The Washington Post, Christianity Today, and some of the top scholarly journals in the field of psychology. He is the co-author of the forthcoming Disaster Ministry Handbook and co-editor of 6 scholarly books. He was awarded the Margaret Gorman Early Career Award from the American Psychological Association (Division 36) for his research on the psychology of religion/spirituality and disasters. Connect with Jamie @drjamieaten.

Dr. Ed Stetzer is the Executive Director of LifeWay Research, a prolific author, and well-known conference speaker. Stetzer has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches, trained pastors and church planters on six continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. Stetzer serves as Senior Fellow of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has taught at many other colleges and seminaries. As of fall 2015, Stetzer co-hosts BreakPoint This Week, a radio broadcast that airs on over 400 media outlets. He also serves as Lead Pastor of Grace Church in Nashville, Tennessee, a congregation he planted in 2011, and teaching pastor at Christ Fellowship, a multi-cultural gigachurch in Miami, Florida.

Kent Annan is author of Slow Kingdom Coming, After Shock, and Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle. He is co-director and co-founder of Haiti Partners. He has an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has lived in Haiti, England, France, Albania, and Kosovo. He, his wife, and their two children currently live in Florida.

Dr. Kendall-Tackett is a health psychologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and the Owner and Editor-in-Chief of Praeclarus Press, a small press specializing in women's health. Dr. Kendall-Tackett is Editor-in-Chief of two peer-reviewed journals Clinical Lactation and Psychological Trauma. She is Fellow of the American Psychological Association in Health and Trauma Psychology, Past President of the APA Division of Trauma Psychology. Dr. Kendall-Tackett specializes in women's-health research including breastfeeding, depression, trauma, and health psychology. Her research interests include the psychoneuroimmunology of maternal depression and the lifetime health effects of trauma. Dr. Kendall-Tackett has authored more than 400 articles or chapters and is the author or editor of 29 books on maternal depression, family violence, and breastfeeding. Her most recent books include: Psychology of Trauma 101 (2015) and The Science of Mother-Infant Sleep (2014).

Dr. David Boan began his career in clinical practice in Sacramento, CA, and soon found himself engaged in working with community programs and services. This began a long transition from developing church-based counseling programs, developing community services for the developmentally disabled and deaf, to working with healthcare facilities in the US and internationally to improve the quality of care. In 1996 Dr. Boan completed the transition to community and organizational services by becoming the VP of Research for the Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care in Maryland. In this role he designed and led programs on the role of culture in organizational performance, designing information services for community action, and using behavior management to improve the delivery of care. He was part of the team that developed the first public hospital report card in the United States. He participated in programs using financial incentives to change healthcare, defining leadership attributes that lead to excellence in performance, and creating high performing teams. From there, Dr. Boan went on to become the Executive Director for Innovation and New Products for Joint Commission Resources and Joint Commission International where he led development of change models that lead to sustainable change, defined standards for quality healthcare in developing countries, created tools for building capacity for improvement in international healthcare settings, and the measurement and improvement of healthcare culture. Dr. Boan began consulting on the Humanitarian Disaster Institute in 2010 and joined the staff and faculty of Wheaton College full time in 2011. His current work focuses on such topics as knowledge transfer, community and organizational capacity building, community resilience and faith-based organizations, and public health and disasters.

Rev. David L. Myers directs the Center for Faith-based & Neighborhood (FBNP) Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Appointed by President Obama in 2009, David heads one of 14 centers in the federal government under the White House Office of FBNP, directed by Ms. Melissa Rogers. David serves as Senior Advisor to FEMA Administrator, Craig Fugate. David oversees the development and delivery of the DHS Center’s programs via a staff of seven. The DHS Center develops relationships, builds bridges and identifies points of collaboration between DHS & FEMA specific programs, faith-based and community organizations, among ethnic, cultural and religious minority communities and traditions. Programs include building resilience in diverse communities, enhancing tribal relationships, developing disaster survivor assistance engagement specialists for religious communities, and preparing houses of worship for times of crisis. David deploys to disasters and emergencies to assist the White House and FEMA’s engagement with faith-based groups.

Dr. Dave Deuel serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Christian Institute on Disability and Senior Associate for Disability Concerns at the Lausanne Movement. His disability ministry commitments include: started the Santa Clarita chapter of the National Down Syndrome Association; served with Parent to Parent counseling services for parents of children with disabilities (LA, CA); ministered as Joni and Friends (JAF) Regional Director for the San Fernando Valley (LA, CA), taught Wheels for the World biblical training sessions (JAF); served on disability-related boards including the North Los Angeles Regional Center, and All Children's Hospital (LA, CA), Direct Link for the Disabled (Solvang, CA), Lexington Family Disability Services (Albany, NY), and a Governor's Advisory committee for the State Council on Disability (Sacramento, CA). My current roles include Senor Research Fellow for the Christian Institute on Disability, Senior Associate for Disability Concerns with the Lausanne Movement, and disability advisor for a presidential candidate’s advisory council.

Roger Sandberg serves at Medical Teams International as the Director of Emergency Relief & Global Security. Roger has 14 years leading emergency relief operations for International NGO’s such as Samaritan’s Purse International Relief, and Medair. Roger served as South Sudan Country Director, Democratic Republic of Congo Country Director, Haiti Country Director and most recently has been part of the Syrian and Iraqi crisis. Roger has a B.A. in Business Economics and Bible Theology from Wheaton College and an MBA from Rollins College.

Dr. Philip G. Monroe is Professor of Counseling and Psychology at Biblical Seminary (Philadelphia) where he directs the Graduate School of Counseling. Most recently, he developed the Global Trauma Recovery Institute to provide continuing education to mental health professionals. He maintains a small private practice at Diane Langberg & Associates and his professional musings can be found at www.wisecounsel.wordpress.com.

The Rev. Dr. Laurie Ann Kraus directs Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the national and international response agency for the Presbyterian Church (USA). Laurie is a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional (CCFP) through the International Association of Trauma Professionals. She is a certified spiritual director. Dr. Kraus is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA, served as a congregational pastor for 30 years, and taught seminary for 15. She holds a BA from Wheaton, M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and D.Min. degrees from Columbia Theological Seminary and Florida Center for Theological Studies. Tuning My Heart: the Melody of the Liturgical Year in Proclamation, Poetry and Praise, was published by Wipf and Stock in 2008; Out of the Depths: Voices of Faith from September 11, a 9/11 anniversary collection of articles and liturgy released in 2002. Her volume on Human Caused Disaster and the Faith Community will be published by Westminster John Knox in 2017.

Dr. Rhoades is a licensed clinical psychologist and is the Founder and Director of Ola Hou Clinic in Aiea, Hawaii. He is the Executive Director of "Roads to Hope" Humanitarian Mission and Director of Trauma Training for the Global Aid Network-Canada. Dr. Rhoades was a founding Member of the Executive Council of Division 56, Trauma Psychology, American Psychological Association. He was past Chair of the Diversity, Education and Training and Continuing Education Committees of Division 56. Dr. Rhoades was the Chair of the Psychology/Counseling Department of The International College and Graduate School. He retired from over 15 years of radio and TV programs and is an International Author and Speaker. Dr. Rhoades has conducted trauma trainings and trauma counseling in over 28 countries in The Pacific Basin, Asia, South East Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Caribbean, North and South America.

Marcus Coleman currently serves as a Special Assistant for the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS Center)—one of thirteen centers under the White House Office of Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships. He is a skilled coalition builder and strategic engagement professional with more than seven years of experience leading change in order to create more resilient communities. This includes expertise in cultivating, sustaining and leveraging results driven partnerships at the national and local level between government and non-governmental groups, including the private sector; and non-profit, philanthropic, faith-based, and civic society organizations.

David L. Maack is the Racine County Emergency Management Coordinator, a position he has held since 1990. Over the past 26 years, he has overseen ten major disaster declarations including nine Presidential Declarations and one SBA Declaration. Under his leadership, David has built a program that has served as a model for other communities and has received national recognition from both FEMA and the International Association of Emergency Managers. In 2011, he was the recipient of FEMA's Individual and Community Preparedness Award in the ”Engagement with Faith-Based Communities” category and was honored at the White House as a Champion of Change. David sits on a number of committees and boards in Southeastern Wisconsin and for ten years, served as an alderman in the City of Racine. In addition, he has served as an interim pastor for two different churches.

Elaine Zook Barge is Assistant Professor of the Practice of Trauma Awareness & Resilience. Since its inception in 2001, she has worked closely with STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience), a research-supported training program for those whose work brings them in contact with populations dealing with historic or current trauma. From 2006-2014, she was the director of the STAR program. She currently facilitates STAR trainings in the USA, Africa, Asia and Latin America/Caribbean as well as mentor STAR practitioners and certified trainers worldwide. Her work in conflict zones in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in the 80’s and 90’s continues to inform and motivate her current practice. Elaine holds a Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation (2003) and a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition/Community Development (1984) from Eastern Mennonite University.

Dr. Laura Shannonhouse is an assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Development’s Department of Counseling and Psychological Services. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Trainer (ASIST). Her clinical experiences (e.g. college counseling center, cancer center, crisis center, etc.) have included working with marginalized populations both domestically and internationally (e.g. illness-related trauma in South Africa; prolonged grief from daycare center fire in Mexico, post-Katrina charter school teachers; both southeast Asian and post-earthquake Haitian refugees, and urban homeless, etc.). Her research interests have been influenced by these clinical experiences; she is particularly interested in finding best practices for maximizing counselors’ acquisition of multicultural counseling competence so that they may better serve clients. Specifically, her primary lines of inquiry are: (a) culture-centered clinical outreach with disaster impacted populations, (b) cognitive emotional developmental style processing in beginning counselors, and (c) suicide intervention in the K-12 school context. Shannonhouse has disseminated her work through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at local, national and international conferences, and received research and best practice grants from the Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors and Chi Sigma Iota International. She has received several awards, including the Courtland C. Lee Multicultural Excellence Scholarship Award from the American Counseling Association, The Marian Pope Franklin Fellowship from the Department of Counseling and Educational Development at UNC Greensboro, and was selected as an Emerging Leaders Fellow by the Southern Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors and as a leadership intern and fellow by Chi Sigma Iota International.

Jenn Ranter is an associate researcher with the Humanitarian Disaster Institute. She received her Masters degree in Clinical Psychology from Wheaton College in 2011. Previously, she worked as a therapist for the precious children in foster care, specializing in expressive therapy modalities to promote healing from trauma. She has a passion for working alongside vulnerable populations, which led her to become the founder and director of Replanted- an adoption, foster care, and safe families ministry at Church of the Resurrection. She has been published in the Journal of Adolescence and has been a speaker on topics including: foster care, trauma and attachment, and forgiveness as a coping response in children.

Cari Logan is the Sr. Program Manager for Camp Noah at Lutheran Social Service of MN, a national resiliency and preparedness day camp for elementary children in communities impacted by disaster/trauma. Since 2013, Cari has worked with over sixty communities and Long-Term Recovery Groups across the United States post disaster to develop the assets and resources necessary to host Camp Noah programing in their communities. Cari developed resources and relationships for Camp Noah’s response in communities impacted by other collective trauma including Karen refugees, Newtown, CT, and Ferguson, MO. Cari is an ordained pastor and has a Masters in Christian Education from Bethel Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Prior to joining Camp Noah, Cari worked in Sierra Leone, West Africa, as the In-Country Program Director for an NGO serving vulnerable children by providing sponsorship, care, housing, and education.

Matthew Soerens serves as the US Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief. He is the co-author of Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis (Moody Publishers, 2016) and Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion, and Truth in the Immigration Debate (InterVarsity Press, 2009). Matthew has degrees from Wheaton College and from DePaul University's School of Public Service. He lives in Aurora, Illinois with his wife, Diana, and their two children.

Tom Albinson presently serves as President of International Association for Refugees (IAFR). In 1981, Tom began serving refugees in Austria as a missionary with Slavic Gospel Association. In 1992, Tom joined International Teams where he served as Director of Refugee Ministries before founding IAFR in 2009. In 2013, Tom was appointed by World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) to serve as Ambassador for Refugees, Displaced and Stateless People. Tom is an active founding member of the Refugee Highway Partnership - a growing international network of churches and Christian agencies serving refugees and forcibly displaced people.Over the years, Tom has provided leadership and ministry support to teams serving forcibly displaced people in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Malta, New Zealand, Sudan, Turkey, the UK, and the USA.